


Hope For Us

by hopeful_owl



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Basically Danganronpa 3 but with Komahina, Dangan Ronpa 3 Rewrite, Dangan Ronpa 3 Spoilers, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Komaeda Nagito Being Komaeda Nagito, Komaeda keeps a journal, M/M, Secrets, Super Dangan Ronpa 2 Spoilers, Tears
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-09
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2020-06-25 02:43:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19736734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hopeful_owl/pseuds/hopeful_owl
Summary: Their lives were never the same again the day Hinata Hajime and Komaeda Nagito met in Hope’s Peak Academy’s courtyard.Were they supposed to meet that day? Probably not.Still, they did, and now they have to endure pain, hate, and heartbreak in order to keep their relationship alive.Only hope can save them now.





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> This story is placed in an alternate universe where Komaeda and Hinata meet while attending Hope's Peak and become friends. Although, Komaeda's craziness gets in the way quite a bit... as always.
> 
> The concept of this was inspired by an AMV on YT called "Moondust" by MoonlessNight126. It's such an amazing Komahina video edit - go check it out!
> 
> I first posted the chapters of this fanfiction on Amino separately, in the form of a part one and a part two. I combined them here. That's why each chapter kind of seems like its own story. Just to let you know.
> 
> Without further ado, enjoy :)

_When we are first brought into this world, we believe we can do anything. That the entire world is at our fingertips._

_Our parents don’t make it any better. The good kind of caregivers give their all for us to keep our childhood innocence. My parents, in particular, drilled it into my head that the world is full of hope. That every human being is full of potential. That I, too, was capable of being a beacon of hope to everyone around me._

_But there is a time in everyone’s lives when we realize we’ve been lied to._

_To be honest, I believe my time of realization was too early. I could’ve bared being happy a little while longer. Unfortunately, the world does what it pleases. Instead of letting me be happy, it made me experience a plane crash. That was when I opened my eyes._

_It was a horrific display. All I wanted was to go home after a long vacation, but instead, I was met by a scene of hijackers and meteors. It resulted in the death of hundreds. Including my parents._

_Upon feeling immense despair, I finally grew up. I came to terms with the fact that the world is an awful place. Death and destruction follow you wherever you go._

_But why? Why did these awful things happen to people? That’s what I wondered._

_Finally, upon watching a new batch of Ultimates enter Hope’s Peak Academy on the news, I came to a conclusion. The people who died in the plane crash had weak hope._

_The hijackers, the others on the plane, and even my own family. They died because they were hopeless individuals. They had no talent. They had no real reason to live. So they died. That’s what I convinced myself to believe._

_I, too, am talentless. Hopeless. Nothing. The only reason why I survived that crash was because of luck._

_Luck controlled my entire life from that day onward. Everything that happens to me now is based on my luck - a power that I can not wield at will to save my life._

_But it’s alright. As a lowly individual, I can use my luck to help the Ultimates shine. They are the ones who have strong hope. They need to share it with the world, and I can support them. Even if it costs me my life, I’ll do it. That’s all I’ll ever be good for. That’s all every talentless person is good for._

_The sole purpose of a talentless person is to be thrown away. They’re all worthless trash._

_That’s something I’ll believe for the rest of my life._

**\-----**

Komaeda Nagito finished writing with a satisfied smile. When he dropped his pen, the ring of the Hope’s Peak Academy bell echoed throughout the courtyard.

“Lucky me,” He said, getting up from a bench, “I finished right on time.”

He then stuffed his items into his backpack and headed to the main course building. When he finally got to his classroom, class 77-B, he was met with an unexpected sight.

His homeroom teacher, Kizakura Koichi, was vomiting into the trash can.

“Ah, Mr. Kizakura, are you alright?” Komaeda asked, tearing his eyes away from the scene to see most of his classmates in the room already.

“Y-Yep. Just a bit hungover, that’s all,” the teacher replied. He wiped his mouth with his handkerchief then got up, facing his students with a smile. “Class dismissed.”

With those words, the class erupted into choruses of excitement and confusion.

“H-Huh?”

“Hell yeah! No school today!”

“This is going to be fun.”

“Wait, you can do that?”

The blonde shrugged. “I’m not feeling so hot today, and I don’t feel like calling in a sub. You kids don’t need to come to class every day, anyway. As long as you perfect your talents, you can graduate. So, enjoy your free ti-“

Before he was able to finish his sentence, the teacher was once again hunched over the garbage can. Komaeda heard him mumbling profanities as he and his classmates left the room.

_“Hmm, how unfortunate, I was actually looking forward to class today,”_ Komaeda thought to himself, _"_ _Oh well.”_

Not wanting to stray too far away from the Ultimate school, the white-haired boy headed back to the bench in the courtyard. It was his favourite spot to go to in the morning. The bench was in front of the school fountain, a quiet place surrounded by trees. The most beautiful area he could find to write down his thoughts in his trusted notebook.

But, instead of finding an empty bench like always, Komaeda found a boy laying on it. A brown-haired teenager with his eyes closed. Probably sleeping. Komaeda couldn’t help but smile upon seeing him. He looked so peaceful.

The white-haired Ultimate walked up to the boy on the bench, leaning over him to try to get a better look. Komaeda made the quick assumption that the brunette was a fellow Ultimate. He must’ve been a new student who hadn’t recieved his proper uniform yet. That was probably the reason behind the suit. It was a fair assumption, considering the fact that he saw other people in the same predicament.

“H-Huh?”

All of a sudden, the striking colour of lime green met Komaeda’s line of vision. The boy had opened his eyes.

“Good morning,” Komaeda greeted with a smile, “I’m sorry, did I wake you?”

“Uh, no, actually. I was only- uh- thinking,” The unfamiliar male replied. He sat up and turned to make room for the other.

Komaeda gratefully took a seat beside him. “Aren’t you supposed to be in class?” He asked.

“I could say the same for you,” He responded. Then he shook his head. “No, I’m not. There was an issue with the teacher so now I’m out here.”

“Hey, same here,” Komaeda said, shooting him a kind smile. He put his hand out for the other to shake. “I’m Komaeda Nagito. What about you?”

“I’m Hinata Hajime,” He said, taking his hand and shaking it.

“It’s nice to meet you, Hinata-kun. If it’s alright, may I ask what your talent is?”

The brunette stared at him, wide-eyed. Sweat began to bead down his forehead. “U-Uh-“

“Oh, are you uncomfortable with your ultimate talent? Don’t worry, me too. If you don’t want to share it, I promise, I won’t force you. But know that I’m sure it’s an amazing talent. Much better than mine, anyway, I’m not sure you can even call it talent!” The pale boy then laughed in a carefree way, calming Hinata down.

_“Hinata-kun… he seems to be a lot like me. I can sense it. He has the same admiration for Hope’s Peak Academy as I do!”_ Komaeda thought with joy.

He was quick to change the subject, much to the other boy’s relief. “Hey, do you have anywhere to go soon?” Komaeda asked.

“Well, I'm supposed to be attending school right now so... no, I don't. If you want, we could stay here and continue talking,” Hinata suggested with a smile.

“Ah, are you sure you’d like to sit and chat with trash like me?”

The brunette frowned. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. You seem like a great person.”

“Thanks, Hinata-kun,” Komaeda said, turning to gaze at their surroundings. “Isn’t the place wonderful?”

“Yeah, it’s really peaceful…”

Just like that, Hinata and Komaeda began talking up a storm. In only an hour or so they had already found out so much about each other, and realized how similar they truly were.

“Hey, Hinata-kun!” A girl’s voice called from a distance. Pausing in the middle of a conversation, the two turned to see a girl with black hair and violet eyes running towards them. “The teacher problem was situated. I was told to bring everyone back to the classroom.”

“Oh, okay. Thanks. Sato, right?”

She nodded with a small smile. “Yeah. Now, you should get back to class. I need to find everyone else!” With that, the girl was gone.

Hinata turned to Komaeda with an unhappy look. “Sorry, Komaeda. I have to go. I’ll be here tomorrow after school if you’d like to chat again.”

“Are you sure? The time we’ve spent together wasn’t painful for you at all?”

The boy shook his head. “Not at all. It’d be great to talk to you again.”

Komaeda grinned, a rare feeling bubbling in his heart. Someone actually seemed to appreciate him. “Well, if you insist… I’ll be here tomorrow.”

“Great. See you then.” And then Hinata was off.

Komaeda was left in front of the fountain. Although alone, he felt genuinely happy that he found someone to spend time with.

This was going to be the start of something great.

The next day came by, and Komaeda and Hinata met up again. They spent some time together, chatting, and then left school for the day. The next afternoon was the same. And the next, and the next, until it became a regular occurrence.

The two became rather close rather quickly. Slowly, but surely, Komaeda realized that the other was hiding something from him. Multiple things, actually. He just wasn’t sure what.

Even still, he didn’t pry. If Hinata didn’t want to share a few things with Komaeda, it was perfectly alright. Komaeda, as a self-proclaimed lowlife, would be stepping out of line if he ever asked the brunette to spill his secrets. So, he kept his mouth shut about Hinata, and, instead, opened up his mouth to talk about himself.

If Hinata wanted to keep things private it was fine, but Komaeda hated to lie and hide things from others. Ultimates, especially.

So, one day, when the pale boy was reminiscing about his childhood, he decided to share a few things with Hinata.

“Hinata-kun, what do you think of luck?”

“Luck…? Uh…” Hinata looked up at the clouds in thought. “Well… honestly, it feels like some sort of superpower. Something that should only exist in movies.”

Komaeda nodded in approval. “Yep. That’s what I think too. It’s absolute power that can not be controlled but instead controls you. That sounds rather dangerous, don’t you think?”

“Definitely.”

“Everyone considers me to be extremely lucky,” Komaeda started. “Luck has affected me my entire life. When I was in elementary school, my family and I were on vacation at San Cristobal. We were heading home on an airplane, but it got hijacked. That sounds like bad luck, right? But then a meteorite fell at exactly the right time, and struck the hijackers! Such good luck… but it struck my parents too. They died instantly. For the rest of my life, it’s been like that. Bad luck followed by good luck followed by bad luck.”

Hinata stared at the other boy with intense concern, curiosity, and pity. He tried to process this information as best as he could, but in the end, he couldn’t. All he knew was that Komaeda had been through some rough times, and his luck was the culprit.

“Komaeda, are you by any chance… the Ultimate Lucky Student?”

“One of them, yes,” He replied, “Every year Hope’s Peak Academy chooses one teen to randomly attend as the Ultimate Lucky Student. I’m not the only one, so that’s why it seems like such a pathetic talent in my eyes. So many individuals with their own unique talents, and then there’s me.” The white-haired boy shook his head, looking up at Hinata with a smile. “But who cares about this piece of garbage? Let’s talk about something else!”

“Wait, before we do… Komaeda, if you ever feel like venting your emotions when it comes to your bad luck, I’m right here. I care about you. There’s no need to hide any pain you feel behind that happy expression.”

“I... I’ll remember that. Thank you, Hinata-kun.”

Later, that same day, Komaeda forgot something at the fountain when he left. Hinata noticed it and picked it up. It was a notebook. He opened it and found pages full of Komaeda’s signature messy writing. This was most likely his journal. The brunette turned to the bookmarked page, and a single line caught his eye.

_“The sole purpose of a talentless person is to be thrown away. They’re all worthless trash.”_

Panic surged through Hinata Hajime. He scanned through some of the less recent entries and discovered that they all said the same thing. The talentless were trash and deserved to die for the sake of hope.

“He doesn’t really think that about me…” Hinata muttered, “Does he…? After everything we’ve done together…”

The day afterwards, Hinata decided to confront Komaeda about it. It would be a risky thing to do, considering the fact that he had yet to reveal his secret to the luckster, but he had to do it.

“Komaeda, you left your notebook here yesterday,” Hinata said, handing it to him.

“Thanks,” He replied with a small grin, “I was looking everywhere for this… uh, did you read anything in here?”

“Actually, yeah, I did. I’m sorry if it feels like I was invading your privacy but-“

“No, no, it’s fine. If knowing more about me brings you hope then I’m all for it!” Komaeda cheerfully declared, cutting him off.

“Um, about that… do you actually think that hope is absolute good? That after great despair comes great hope, and the talentless have to… sacrifice themselves for it?”

An unsettling, large grin then formed on Komaeda’s face. “Why, of course! You see, my luck cycle has shown me that after despairful events, hopeful events always occur. After my parent’s death, I earned a large inheritance. It was a splendid event that gave me hope for MY future, even though I know full well I’m scum! And all it took was a few hundred sacrifices.”

Hinata stared at the boy in front of him with horror, but Komaeda couldn’t have cared less.

“You see it all the time, don’t you?” He continued, inching closer and closer to Hinata’s face. “The talentless die every day in crashes and disasters, but the talented never die in such common ways. Because their hope outshines everyone else’s. Their main purpose in life is to bring hope to the world’s future, which is exactly why they attend Hope’s Peak Academy. That’s exactly why you’re here in front of me, Hinata-kun! To bring hope! To bring absolute good!”

“Komaeda...“ Hinata warned, backing up. He felt his legs hit the fountain edge.

“Hinata-kun, all I want in life is to see great hope shine. That’s all. If in order to do it I have to sacrifice myself, or anybody else… I’ll do it. For you, and all the other Ultimates here! I love you all from the bottom of my heart! Aha! HAHAHAHAHAH!”

A loud, terrifying laugh erupted from Komaeda’s throat. It made a chill run down Hinata’s spine as the other teen stood above him, almost superior. Hinata was trapped between Komaeda and the fountain, terrified. That was the most scared the brunette had ever been in his life - especially of someone he considered his friend.

Finally, when Komaeda’s laugh died down, he gave Hinata a soft smile. “I’m thirsty. I’m going to go get a drink from a nearby vending machine… would you like one?”

“U-Uh… n-no thanks.”

“Alright, then.” And Komaeda was off, oblivious to Hinata’s fear towards him.

It took a bit for Komaeda to get to the vending machine. When he did, yet another lucky event was waiting for him.

“That’s odd… I put in a thousand yen and pushed the button, but it’s not coming out. I’m so unlucky," He sighed.

Right when he said that, a truck flew out of nowhere and crashed into the vending machine. It triggered the machine’s lucky mode, and dozens upon dozens of Dr. Hopper drinks fell out. Just as Hinata said, his luck did seem like something from a movie.

Komaeda couldn’t help but chuckle, secretly expecting something like this to happen. “I guess I really am lucky, after all.”

Without hesitation, the teenage boy started picking up the drinks and placing them in his backpack. This was yet another hopeful event in his opinion, and he wasn’t going to waste it.

_“Hinata’s face looked… pretty scary when I left. Maybe if I give him a few of these, he’ll cheer up a bit!”_ Komaeda thought.

When he picked up as many as he could carry, he hurried back to the fountain.

Hinata was standing there with Komaeda’s classmate, Nanami Chiaki. This was probably their first meeting. The two talked as Nanami played on her gaming console, as always. Komaeda joined them with a smile.

“I’m back, Hinata-kun! Good afternoon, Nanami-san,” he greeted.

“Huh? Oh, hello, Komaeda-kun.” Nanami looked back and forth at the two boys in curiosity. “You guys know each other?”

Komaeda nodded. “Yeah. We’ve known each other for a while, actually,” He replied, setting down his cans of Dr. Hopper, “Would you two like some?”

Nanami nodded back at him, grabbing a can and taking a sip before going back to her video game. Hinata couldn’t resist taking one as well. Komaeda took one too.

“Where did you get so many of these?” Hinata asked.

“I got lucky at the vending machine,” Komaeda explained, opening his can and holding it up, “Cheers?”

Hinata reluctantly met his drink with the other boy’s. “Cheers.” He was acting very cautiously around Komaeda after their earlier encounter.

Even still, it was only Komaeda’s views that were a little messed up, right? And that was because of his harsh past. Hinata just couldn’t blame someone for something they couldn’t control.

Unfortunately, Komaeda was not the same.

“Hello! You must be Nanami-san and Komaeda-kun!”

“Hey, that itches! Let me go!”

A woman with bright orange hair and green eyes approached the three teens, dragging a boy from the 77th class by the legs from behind her.

“I’m Yukizome Chisa! Starting today, I’m your teacher. Nice to meet you!” She introduced. Her eyes then wandered over to Hinata. “Huh? That uniform… are you a student in the Reserve Course?”

The question raised red flags in both Hinata and Komaeda’s minds. Hinata was especially anxious. He couldn’t lie to Hope’s Peak staff, but what would be Komaeda’s reaction?

“Y-Yes,” The brunette replied, turning away from the group. He couldn’t look Komaeda in the eyes. Finally, the truth was out, and it scared him to death.

“Reserve Course?” Komaeda asked, shock evident in his voice.

“You haven’t heard of it?” Chisa asked, “It was introduced last year. They accept ordinary students. The student fees are high, though...”

“Hmm…” Nanami hummed, not seeming to care much. Meanwhile, Komaeda couldn’t have been more baffled.

“O-Ordinary students…?” He turned to Hinata, “You’re talentless, Hinata-kun?”

He sheepishly nodded. “Yeah…”

Silence followed. It took Komaeda a second to process it, and when he did, he couldn’t help but laugh. “Hah.. ahahaha! What’s this? My only friend at this academy has been lying to me the entire time I’ve known him! I always complimented him on having amazing talents, and he accepted these compliments. It was almost as if he deserved them... but he never did. He’s just a normal, boring, talentless individual. Like me. The only difference is, I know my place. You never seemed to know where you belong, Hinata-kun. Although, after our chat earlier today, I’m sure you understand now.”

“K-Komaeda…”

“I’m trash. I should’ve expected to be betrayed, but at least I know I deserve it. You’re like me, Hinata-kun. You should know that you deserve this too. Because you’re talentless. You can pretend you’re the opposite all you want, but that’s what you are. You weren’t born with worth, just like a small dog wasn’t born large. And a small dog can never become a large dog… that’s just the truth of it all.”

“Komaeda, I’m sorry, I never meant to-”

Komaeda shook his head. “It doesn’t matter what you meant to or didn’t mean to do. I know the truth now. You’re just another person who’s going to end up being thrown away one of these days.” He shrugged, turning to walk away from the scene. “I can’t be friends like someone like that… especially someone who’s a liar too. I hate liars, they remind me of my parents.”

“Komaeda, wait!” Hinata called out, sounding desperate.

Komaeda wanted to be desperate too. Desperate enough to forget about the whole ordeal and run back to Hinata’s kind and supportive words. But he didn’t deserve them, and Hinata didn’t deserve him either.

“I’ll see you back in the classroom, Ms. Yukizome!” He shouted. The white-haired boy turned a corner, and he was gone.

“Oh, dear... I didn’t expect that to happen,” Yukizome said with a sigh. “I shouldn’t have brought the reserve course up. Hey, you’re Hinata, right? Don’t worry. I’ll go and talk to him once I- hey!” It was then when she realized the boy she was dragging had escaped. “Get back here!” She yelled, running off to chase after him. Of course, she didn’t mean any harm by it. She was a good teacher. She just needed to get her students back to the classroom.

Now, the only two people left at the fountain were Hinata and Nanami.

Hinata’s heart felt as if it was cracked in half. There was no denying the strong friendship Komaeda and he had developed. It came to the point where Hinata almost accepted his insanity. But now, everything that the two had been through was tossed down the drain. Yes, it wasn’t a whole lot, but it meant something. It meant a lot to Hinata. Komaeda was the first person at Hope’s Peak to be genuinely nice to him.

The words he uttered played over and over again in Hinata’s mind, akin to a broken record. It hurt Hinata. Every single insult hurt like a knife wound. It almost made him want to... change for Komaeda.

Hinata let out a dejected sigh. “If only I had talent… maybe Komaeda wouldn’t hate me. I should-“

“It doesn’t make a difference whether you have a talent or not,” Nanami said. She didn’t look up from her game but knew the severity of the situation all the same.

“Huh?”

“I mean, that isn’t the end goal. You have freedom greater than we do. All I have are games. But you can go anywhere, and become anything. So, don’t listen to Komaeda. What he thinks is the truth isn’t true for everyone, y’know?”

“I’ll remember that… thanks, Nanami.”

━━━━━━━✿━━━━━━━ 

“Komaeda-kun, you’re still in here?”

Komaeda had been absentmindedly staring out the window when someone called his name. He looked up to see his new teacher with a concerned look. The classroom was eerily silent. Contrary to what he previously believed, no one was in there except them two.

It had been about a day since the incident between him and Hajime had occurred, and he had been zoning out more and more. There was this empty feeling in his heart. It bothered him. It caused him to stop paying attention during class, to the point where he hadn’t even realized it ended.

“Oh, I must’ve not heard the bell… how embarrassing,” he chuckled, shaking his head.

“Well, as long as you’re here, could we talk? About you and Hinata earlier?”

“Hinata-kun? What about him?” Komaeda asked. He held the same bright smile but shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“Not just Hinata - you and Hinata,” Yukizome said, crossing her arms. “You two seemed so fond of each other before I mentioned the Reserve Course… what happened?”

Komaeda didn’t waste time explaining. “To put it simply, I dislike the talentless. Loathe them, actually.”

“Huh? Why? They haven’t done anything to harm you, have they?”

“No, I suppose not. They do bother me, though… most of them pretend to be so grand. They compare themselves to Ultimates as if they could ever reach their level of greatness. This includes Hinata. After all this time I’ve known him, he never once told me he wasn’t Ultimate.”

Yukizome pulled up a seat across from him, taking in every word. According to the other students, his way of thinking was strange. They could almost never comprehend it. On the other hand, as his teacher, Yukizome was determined to succeed. And she did.

“This isn’t about him being in the reserve course, is it? It’s about him lying to you. He was your friend, and he let you down.”

“No, it really isn’t,” Komaeda insisted, “He isn’t even my friend. I would never befriend an Ultimate - faking it or otherwise. I’m nothing but a step-“

Yukizome interrupted him, shaking her head. “I don’t believe you. You said while yelling at Hinata that he was the only friend you’ve made at this academy. Do you remember that?”

“I-I said that?” He asked, dumbfounded. Then, the memory came back to him. He DID say that.

Yukizome sent him a smile. “Well, we’ve found the source of the problem. You’re mad that Hinata never told you he wasn’t Ultimate.”

“I…” Komaeda sighed. He knew deep down that she was right. With sorrow, he admitted it. “I am. Although, that isn’t the only reason.”

“Well, whatever the reason is, you still think of him as a friend. Right?”

Shamefully, Komaeda nodded. He felt so selfish in doing so. He didn’t deserve friends - why would a worthless nobody like him deserve friends? - but he wanted them. Ever since his childhood he only wanted someone to care about him. Tell him that he wasn’t worthless.

Hinata could’ve been that person for him, but he pushed him away. All because he felt betrayed, and he also felt... scared. Komaeda knew his luck would end up hurting or killing Hinata, and he really didn’t want that to happen.

“If that’s the case, you must still care about him,” Yukizome continued, “And he probably still cares about you, too. My point is… I think you should apologize to him. Be back to being friends. What do you say?” She asked with a reassuring smile.

Komaeda was silent. He considered the possibility, but there were way too many things that could’ve gone wrong. Still, he was unsure. What good would come from him apologizing? Probably a lot.

The green-eyed woman sighed. “Well, think about it, okay? I want all my students to find happiness - that includes you, Komaeda. And, clearly, that boy makes you happy,” She said, getting up, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Alright. Bye, Ms. Yukizome… and, thank you.”

━━━━━━━✿━━━━━━━

_I’ve always considered friendship and happiness to be so trivial. It could never compare to the greatness of hope._

_Then there’s the talentless. For such a long time, I’ve never wanted anything to do with them. They were nothing to me. Just worthless beings to fill up the empty space in this world._

_But Ms. Yukizome was right. I befriended a talentless person, and he made me happy. No, not just that. He made me feel like I actually belong in this world. He made me think that I mattered. To him, anyways._

_And I got mad at him for such an inconsequential, stupid reason: he never told me that he was talentless._

_Now that I think about it, I should’ve realized it sooner. From the beginning, he felt similar to me. We both admired Hope’s Peak and were interested in the same things. I should’ve deduced that maybe he was talentless too. I just jumped to conclusions too quickly._

_He was also hiding things from me. I knew this but didn’t think to ask what they were. Maybe if I did ask, we could’ve avoided this entire situation._

_I’m sure there were times where he tried to tell me too. I just never let him. It’s my fault. Like always, everything is my fault._

_I’m going to fix things by apologizing to Hinata-kun._

_Had things been different, I never would’ve thought about apologizing to anyone talentless. They have weak hope. They don’t deserve any kindness. But Hinata-kun is different. He has strong hope… I can feel it._

_I don’t want to lose that hope again._

**\-----**

“Komaeda? What are you doing here?”

Komaeda dropped his pen in surprise. He had been waiting for Hinata on their bench in front of the fountain. Now, here Hinata was, almost as shocked as he was.

“Oh! Hinata-kun! Nanami-san told me you two were going to meet up here, but she had some things to do with Ms. Yukizome. So, she sent me instead,” Komaeda explained.

Hinata was skeptical, but the luckster was telling the truth. He just left out the part that this was all planned ahead of time in order for Komaeda to apologize. That was something Hinata would have to figure out for himself.

“Well, if that’s the case then I’m leaving,” the brunette said. Obviously, he didn’t want to spend time with the guy who seemed to hate him.

“Wait!” Komaeda exclaimed, grabbing Hinata’s arm before he could walk away. This surprised and confused the teenager. “I… I wanted to… say I’m sorry.”

“You’re… sorry?” Hinata’s surprise and confusion continued to increase.

Komaeda nodded. “Yes. I am. Somebody as lowly as me shouldn’t have yelled at you for something so selfish. You really didn’t deserve that.”

“R-Really? But aren’t I… a talentless, worthless reserve course student?”

Komaeda shook his head without hesitation. “You may be talentless… but you aren’t worthless. I am, yet you still tried to be friends with me. You cared about me and made me smile. That’s something nobody has ever done for trash like me before. That’s why… I believe you have hope far more powerful than I had originally thought. And… I love that hope, Hinata-kun.”

Hearing Komaeda talk, Hinata realized that he was the only one who seemed to care for Komaeda after his parents died. He couldn’t help but want to continue doing it. He wanted to continue to be there for him. Because Hinata loved him too.

“Anyways, my point is: I’m sorry for yelling at you. If you don’t forgive me, it’s alright, I’m an awful human being who doesn’t-“

“Of course I forgive you."

“Huh?”

Hinata gave Komaeda a small smile. “You know what? I have an idea. Let’s start over.”

Now it was Komaeda’s turn to be surprised. “Really? You’d give trash like me a second chance?”

Hinata’s eyes softened. “Of course, because you aren’t trash...” He then said, “I’m Hinata Hajime. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Uh... I’m Komaeda Nagito. It’s nice to meet you too.”

Keeping the same smile, Hinata held out a welcoming hand. “Komaeda Nagito... would you like to be my friend?”

Komaeda hesitated for a second. Now that he knew Hinata was like his parents - people with weak hope who truly cared about him - there was no telling what could happen. Something bad would happen to Hinata. That was just how his luck worked.

Komaeda was scared. He didn’t want to harm Hinata...

... but he pushed those fears away, smiled back at the green-eyed boy, and shook his hand.

“Yes. I’d love to be your friend.”

Komaeda had a small feeling that, for now, his luck was on his side. The thought filled him with joy.

But this joy was not going to last forever.


	2. The End

_“No… No, no, no, no, no!”_

Hinata sat at his classroom desk with wide, disbelieving eyes. At first, it was just another day in the Reserve Course department. Another day feeling like a talentless nobody. But this day was different. He realized its significance the minute his teacher walked into the room.

The normally stoic reserve course teacher had a solemn, almost sad look on his face. It surprised Hinata. Nothing could ever change his serious expression. Nothing except for…

 _“No, it can’t be…”_ Hinata thought.

He hoped. He hoped so hard that it wasn’t true. But when the teacher opened his mouth, that hope was shattered mercilessly.

“I regret to inform you that yet another one of your classmates, Sato, has… passed.”

_“N-No… Goddammit, not again!”_

Now, Hinata sat, disbelief the only thing on his mind. A few days ago, his classmate, Kuzuryuu Natsumi, had been murdered. Sure, she was very egotistical and rude, but before her death, Hinata discovered a side of her that nobody had ever seen.

 _“Talentless people have no right to be with my brother! I just want something to be proud of… not to always look up to him. I want to stand by his side!”_ That’s what she said to him.

Kuzuryuu Natsumi loved her brother more than anything, and just wanted a talent so she could be equal to him. She had hopes and dreams just like any other person, but just like that, she was gone. Now, so was Sato - a girl who was extremely loyal to her friends, and would’ve gone to hell and back for them.

Kuzuryuu and Sato, both wonderful people, were dead in only a number of days. Hinata hated it. They didn’t deserve death. Nobody did.

“Services will be held on…”

The reserve course teacher began telling the details of Sato’s funeral, but Hinata wasn’t listening. Even though he had wanted to go, that wasn’t the most pressing issue on his mind.

“How did she die?” The brunette blurted out.

“Excuse me?” The teacher asked, surprised he dared to interrupt her.

“How did she die?” Hinata repeated.

The reserve course staff member simply shook her head. “I’m afraid I don’t know. Does it matter? What’s done is done. Now, onto today’s lesson…”

 _“What the- Of course it matters!”_ Hinata shouted inside of his mind.

He wanted to shout it out loud. He wanted to scream from the hills that the dead mattered, yet he didn’t say another word. Instead, Hinata slouched in his seat, despair-filled thoughts filling his mind. His soulless teacher continued on as if it was just another day, but he didn’t listen to a word that was said.

It was definitely not just another ordinary day, and he wasn’t going to act like it was.

━━━━━━━✿━━━━━━━

_*DING! DONG! BING! BONG!*_

A couple of hours had passed and finally, it was lunchtime. Hinata was so relieved. All he wanted was to get out of the classroom and think, even if it was only for a little while.

As the green-eyed boy placed his school supplies in his locker, he heard someone call out his name from the other side of the hallway. He recognized the voice right away, and it surprised him.

“Hinata-kun!”

“... Komaeda?”

Hinata then turned to see his friend approaching him with a gentle smile on his face. Talentless students all around sneered at him, the Ultimate Lucky Student, Komaeda Nagito. They were jealous of how he was able to get into the main course with nothing but pure luck, but Komaeda didn’t care. He had never cared about what people thought of him. He just kept going until he reached the person he had been looking for.

“Hey, Hinata-kun.”

“K-Komaeda? What are you doing here?” Hinata asked, shocked, to say the least. He knew full well Komaeda hated most talentless people. If so, why was he here, in a building full of them?

“I wanted to visit you in the reserve course,” the white-haired boy replied with an honest grin, “It’s lunchtime right now, isn’t it? Do you want to come to eat with me at the fountain? If it’s not too much trouble, of course. I don’t want to force you to eat with trash like me.”

Hinata let out an audible sigh at Komaeda’s self-deprecating comment, then agreed. “Of course I’d eat lunch with you.”

“Great. Let’s go!”

With that, Komaeda began to lead Hinata out of the reserve course building. The brunette couldn’t help but notice the stares that followed them.

The brunette really should’ve been mad at Komaeda. This was attracting a lot of unwanted attention, which was something he just didn’t need. Yet, Hinata didn’t feel any kind of negative emotion towards the Ultimate.

Instead, he felt a weird sense of pride. He had someone who would enter a building of people he hated, just for him. It made Hinata happy that Komaeda cared so much.

When the two finally reached their spot on their favourite bench at the fountain, Hinata took out his lunch and started eating. Komaeda, however, just sat and stared at him, deep in thought. He opened his mouth, then immediately shut it. It looked as if he wanted to say something, but had no idea what to say.

Hinata stared back with an eyebrow raised. “Komaeda?”

“Hinata-kun… I heard about Sato and Kuzuryuu Natsumi. They were your classmates, right?” Komaeda asked.

 _“Oh, so that’s what this is about…”_ Hinata thought.

“Yeah, they were,” He replied, sadness laced in his tone, “How did you even find out about them?”

“Sato’s best friend and Kuzuryuu’s brother are in my class,” Komaeda explained, “They haven’t been taking it very well, so I wanted to see how you were doing.”

“Huh? Why me? Your classmates knew them way more than I did. You should be with them right now.”

The luckster shook his head. “They don’t exactly like me. They especially wouldn’t want my comfort at a time like this. In fact, I’m sure they feel better without my lowly presence getting the way,” He chuckled, “Besides, they have the entire class for support. My apologies if this offends you, but your class doesn’t exactly care how you feel about the matter, does it?”

Hinata sighed and nodded, realizing that what Komaeda said is true. He didn’t really interact with any of his reserve course classmates other than Kuzuryuu and Sato, and now they were gone.

“I figured…” Komaeda trailed off, seeming unsure of what to say next. “I’m sure it must be hard. How are you feeling, Hinata-kun?”

“Awful,” The brunette teen replied, leaning back on the bench they shared, “Absolutely awful. I feel like I could’ve prevented this from happening. If I had just paid more attention, maybe I could’ve saved one of them somehow.”

“Don’t be like that. You had no idea any of this was going to happen. How would you have saved them?”

“I… I don’t know.” Hinata sighed, turning to face his friend, “How did you deal with it, Komaeda?”

“Huh? Deal with what?”

“Everything. Your dog dying, your parents dying… it must’ve been way harder. They were your family. Sato and Kuzuryuu… I hardly knew them, and yet I feel responsible for their deaths.”

“Well,” Komaeda began, “It was definitely difficult at first. After all, I was just a child. I had no idea how to deal with death or the immense amount of luck that followed it. Then, more despair-filled events occurred, followed by hopeful events. It made me realize that everything ends up in hope, so there’s no use becoming depressed over bad things that happen to you! Good things will always come after!”

Komaeda then jumped up, turning to Hinata with a big smile on his face.

“That’s why you shouldn’t be so down, Hinata-kun! These deaths will just be a stepping stone for the Ultimates to shine! It could even help you shine as well, even though you’re just a talentless reserve course student.”

Hinata stared up at his friend for a few seconds, silent, an annoyed look present on his face.

“Yeah, now I get why your classmates wouldn’t want you around to comfort them,” He huffed. He had gotten used to the talentless comments by now, they seemed to come up in every conversation, but they still bugged him. “You’d just make them angry… and confused. I have no idea how you can always be so happy, even at a time like this.”

“Ah, I confuse you?” Komaeda said, shaking his head at himself. “I‘m sorry. Don’t listen to me, alright? I’m just a useless, worthless nobody who can’t do anything ri-“

_*SLAP!*_

Hinata had gotten up from his place on the bench in order to slap the Ultimate Lucky Student in the face.

“Shut up, Komaeda!” He yelled. “I’m tired of you talking about yourself like that. You are not a nobody. You’re not useless or worthless, and you are especially not trash. You’re my friend. You mean a whole lot to me. So stop saying stuff like that.”

Komaeda stood, gaping at Hinata, taking in every word. Then, he let out a loud hiss, the pain of the hit finally getting to him.

“Ah! Are you okay? Sorry, sometimes I don’t know my own strength,” Hinata said, taking Komaeda’s cheek in his hand.

“N-No, I-I’m fine. I deserved that.”

“No, you didn’t. I just didn’t know what else to do to get you to listen to me, ” the brunette teen said, still holding onto his friend’s cheek, “Your cheeks are growing red, are you sure you’re okay?”

All Komaeda could do was nod as he slowly backed away from Hinata and went back to sitting on the bench in front of the fountain. Hinata joined him. Finally, the two began eating their lunch, together, in peaceful silence.

“You know, Hinata-kun, I’d love more moments like this,” Komaeda said, thoughtfully.

“Huh? More moments of me slapping you in the face?”

“Wha- no!”

The two then shared a laugh together. It was refreshing for Hinata. After everything that had happened, he was unsure if he would ever be able to smile again. To his relief, Komaeda always went beyond his expectations.

“What I mean is,” The white-haired boy continued when the two finally finished laughing, “I’d love more moments where it’s just you and me. We’ve been spending an awful lot of time with Nanami-san lately.”

It was true. Ever since Komaeda had made up with Hinata, the three of them - Hinata, Komaeda, and Nanami - spent every afternoon together. They played video games, talked about their lives, and just enjoyed each other’s company. In only a few months, the three of them had become the best of friends.

Still, as much as Komaeda liked Nanami around, he seemed to miss when it was only Hinata and him.

“I want to understand you more, Hinata-kun. Ah, but that’s a little selfish of me to want you all to myself, isn’t it? I apologize. That would be very unfair to Nanami-san if-“

“No, actually, I’d like that. Why don’t we meet here every lunch period?” Hinata suggested.

“I mean, that would be nice but… Hinata-kun, are you sure you’d like to spend your lunches with garba- I mean, me?” Komaeda asked, catching himself before he could put himself down - something Hinata explicitly just told him not to do.

“Sure. I wouldn’t mind spending more time alone with you. And I bet Nanami won’t mind, either,” Hinata said, sending a smile, “By the way, where is Nanami?”

“She’s with Kuzuryuu-kun and Koizumi-san. As I said, they’re not taking the news about their loved ones so well, but Ms. Yukizome won’t let them miss school. Something about classmates having to support one another during despair-filled times. That’s why Nanami-san is trying her best to support them, along with the others.”

Hinata sighed, turning to look at Hope’s Peak’s main course building in the distance. “I still can’t believe that two of my classmates are dead, and I have no idea why or how it happened. AGH!” Hinata screamed, pulling at his hair.

“Hinata…” Komaeda was quiet for a minute. The two were then enveloped in tense silence, and it drove both of them mad. One was frustrated, and the other lacked the social skills to know how to deal with said frustrations. Until, finally, he came up with an idea. “You should ask Koizumi-san about it.”

“Huh?”

“She was Sato’s best friend. I’m sure you’ve seen her around the reserve course once or twice,” Komaeda elaborated, “She knows way more about this than me. If more information about the situation will give you the closure you desire, I suggest talking to her later.”

“That… that’s a really good idea, Komaeda. Thank you.”

Komaeda smiled. It was one of genuine happiness.

Hinata half expected him to go on another tangent about not deserving his thanks- but no. Instead, Komaeda simply kept his smile and said two simple words. “You’re welcome.”

Hinata couldn’t help but smile back. It seemed like Komaeda was finally accepting that he had value as a human being-

But then the pale boy’s expression darkened. He gave Hinata another one of those looks. It was the same one that he gave when the conversation started - the one meaning that he was deep in thought, wanting to say something, but keeping it private.

“Komaeda…? What’s wrong?”

“Something just came to mind…” He let out a sigh. “We were on the subject of your friends dying, right? Hinata-kun. I have a question to ask you regarding that, and I want you to answer honestly.”

“Shoot,” The brunette replied. He tried to look as relaxed as possible, but he felt uneasy. Something wasn’t right.

The grey-green eyed boy looked away, avoiding Hinata’s concerned gaze. Then, he asked a question that absolutely terrified the other student. “If I died… would you care as much?”

“W-What?” It took a minute to process in Hinata’s mind. Komaeda dying? No. Komaeda couldn’t die. Not after everything they had gone through. Not after everything Komaeda’s gone through. He didn’t deserve to die. Not for a long time.

“Hypothetically!” Komaeda said, trying to calm Hinata down, “It’s not like I will die anytime soon,” He chuckled, but there was something off about that laugh. Something Hinata just couldn’t put his finger on. Was he… lying…?

 _“No. He can’t be. Komaeda doesn’t lie. He hates when people lie, doesn’t he?”_ Hinata thought.

“Stop being so happy about it. Did you even hear what I said a few minutes ago?” Hinata said, grabbing his shoulders to look him in the eyes, “I care about you a lot. If you died… it would be ten times worse than Sato and Kuzuryuu, honestly.”

“I had a feeling you would say that,” Komaeda said, almost sounding disappointed. He then backed away from Hinata, leaving the brunette’s arms suspended in mid-air. Hinata awkwardly pulled them back to his sides.

“Why would you even ask that?” He asked. “Are you hiding something from me?”

Komaeda simply smiled in response. It was different than the smile he gave before. It wasn’t genuine. Not at all. Then, he said words that would forever remain etched in Hinata’s brain.

“We all have our secrets. I’m sure you have your own secrets too, Hinata-kun.”

Suddenly, something clicked in Hinata’s brain. A distant memory of a decision he forgot he had to make. His own little secret. It made him feel guilty that he couldn’t say anything about it to Komaeda. But if Komaeda could ask a cryptic question about his secrets, well, then Hinata could too.

“So, what about me? If I died, or disappeared, or just… changed myself, would you care?” Hinata asked, dismissing Komaeda’s previous statement as if it didn’t affect him at all.

Komaeda stared at him with a seemingly blank expression on his face. Finally, he chuckled, responding, “Well, you’re talentless reserve course filth.”

Hinata sighed, looking down. “Of course you’d say that. That means that my existence is absolutely useless right? That if I died it would only be a stepping stone for hope to shine, and nothing else?”

“I never said that about you.”

“Huh?”

Komaeda then grabbed his hand with unexpected confidence. Hinata couldn’t help but realize how cold yet comforting his hands were.

“You seem to forget what I said when we first became friends,” Komaeda started, “You possess a hope I’ve never seen before… a hope that’s strong enough to put up with someone like me, haha. You make me extremely happy too. That’s something nobody has ever done for a long time. If all that was taken away, well, I’d feel the same way Kuzuryuu-kun and Koizumi-san are feeling right now… utter despair.”

Hinata looked at Komaeda, surprised. Meanwhile, the white-haired boy stared down at the ground, a bashful look on his face, their hands still interlocked.

“I’d miss you, Hinata-kun. I know I tease you about being a reserve course student a lot but that doesn’t mean I don’t care about you.”

“Komaeda, I-“

“Anyways!” Komaeda announced rather abruptly, getting up and gathering his belongings. Hinata’s comfort was gone as fast as it came. “Our conversation has drawn on for quite a long time, hasn’t it? Lunch is going to end soon. I should be heading back to the main course building. I’ll see you later today, okay, Hinata-kun? Good luck with your talk with Koizumi.”

Then he started to walk away.

Meanwhile, Hinata sat there, confused and feeling unfulfilled. He wanted to tell Komaeda so much more. He wanted to talk and talk, and maybe even confess the secret he’d been dying to keep private. Maybe Komaeda would confess his own secret too.

Hinata wanted to just talk because being with Komaeda made Hinata happy too. He wanted to keep these happy moments while they were still around. He wanted to spend as much time with Komaeda as he could until, eventually, Hinata had to go.

But Hinata didn’t get what he wanted. Instead, he simply watched the boy leave.

“Okay… bye.”

━━━━━━━✿━━━━━━━

The talk with Komaeda certainly left a sour taste in Hinata’s mouth.

It was extremely lengthy and extremely sweet, but it brought bad memories.

What Komaeda said was stuck in his brain.

_“We all have our secrets. I’m sure you have your own secrets too, Hinata-kun.”_

Hinata huffed, another voice popping into his mind. This one was much less familiar, and, thus, much more unpleasant.

_“You have around a month to decide. The Kamukura Project is a huge opportunity, Hinata Hajime. We sincerely wish you’ll make the right choice. For our country’s hope.”_

The Kamukura Project.

Hinata had forgotten all about it, until Komaeda had brought up secrets. This was a secret that Hinata had been keeping ever since the two had met. Hinata had the chance to change into someone completely different.

Hinata Hajime, “talentless reserve course filth”, could turn into someone with all the talents the world could offer him. He could become the Ultimate Ultimate - or, as the people behind the project say, the Ultimate Hope. That sounds like a dream come true for any ordinary person, but, of course, all good things come with a catch.

This entire project revolved around human experimentation. Hinata would have to put his life in other people’s hands in order for this to happen, and there’s a chance they could fail. There was a chance he could die. That’s the reason why he asked Komaeda earlier about his death.

Never in his life would Hinata ever think the prestigious Hope’s Peak Academy would resort to human experimentation for the hope of humanity. Still… Komaeda thought death was an okay thing for the sake of hope, and Hinata had gotten used to that mindset. How different was playing with brains?

Hinata sighed, shaking those thoughts of his brain. No, the Kamukura Project wasn’t his main priority right now. It was Kuzuryuu Natsumi and Sato’s deaths, and, like Komaeda said, the only way he could receive any type of closure was asking Koizumi Mahiru about it.

Hinata trudged his way up to the main course building of Hope’s Peak Academy with determination on his face; fear in his heart was present there as well. He wasn’t sure what security would do if they caught him inside the building. He wondered if it mattered. Maybe they wouldn’t mind. It was almost the end of the school day, after all.

 _“Maybe I should’ve asked Komaeda for help… maybe he could’ve sneaked me in, or something."_ Hajime thought, but he immediately dismissed it.

He wasn’t sure if Komaeda noticed it himself, but the white-haired lucky student always seemed to ignore Hinata’s existence when an Ultimate other than Nanami was around.

Maybe it was because the Ultimates had more hope than Hinata. Maybe it was because Komaeda just simply didn’t want to be seen with someone talentless. Maybe that would bring whatever reputation he had down - maybe it would confuse others, make people call him a hypocrite because it was completely against his morals. Either way, the reminder made Hinata’s heart sink lower.

The brunette’s confidence had almost completely diminished by the time he had reached the gates of Hope’s Peak, but he kept the same determined look. He had to get in. He had to talk to Koizumi.

Because, despite what Hope’s Peak seemed to think, Kuzuryuu and Sato’s deaths meant something. It wasn’t just some accident that they could pretend never happened.

Hinata was about to step foot into Hope’s Peak Academy’s main course, but, then, he heard someone shout.

“Hey! You’re a reserve course student! What are you sneaking in there for?”

Hinata turned to see a security guard. Great. “I need to ask Koizumi-san, in the Main Course, about something,” he explained, trying to sound as innocent as possible. If he acted nice, maybe he would get out of this.

“You can’t.”

“But…”

“No buts about it! That’s the rule!” The guard said. Seeming to glare daggers.

Okay, screw being nice. This guy clearly wasn’t going to be nice back.

Hinata began to walk into the gates, ignoring the guard completely.

“Hey!”

But, of course, the guard just had to do his job right. He blocked the way by grabbing Hinata’s shoulders to keep him in place.

“Just let me through- GAH!”

Pain. It coursed through Hinata’s lower back as he hit the ground, thrown by a tall man with dark green hair and pink eyes. Hinata recognized him right away from his nights on the Hope’s Peak forums.

“You have to follow the school rules,” the man said.

“Y-You’re-”

“The man in charge of Hope’s Peak High School security,” He finished. Although, Hinata knew him as more than that. He was also the Ultimate Boxer, Sakakura Juzo. “I’ll let this slide just this once. Now hurry up and get lost.”

“Wait! Please, tell me the truth about Sato and Kuzuryu, the people who died! I can’t just accept this!”

“You want the truth? Fine, I’ll tell you. An unfortunate girl was killed by someone who sneaked into the school, and her classmate also died from the shock of it all. That’s the end of it.”

After hearing his words, Hinata’s temper began to flare. “That’s bull!” He yelled. “You’re just trying to sweep the problem under the rug!”

Sakakura sighed. “Reserve Course students are easily replaced. I don’t have time to deal with it every time one you dies…”

Almost like a bomb, Hinata’s anger exploded. What happened next was a complete blur of attempted punches and even more pain. Next thing he knew, the brunette was on the ground with a foot being buried into his back. He wasn’t even sure why he tried to go up against someone like Sakakura, but there was one thing he was sure of: what came out of Sakakura Juzo’s mouth was unfair and wrong.

“If you don’t have talent, just pay money to compensate for it. It’s such a pain when someone like you gets killed. Don’t sully the name of Hope’s Peak, you scum.” Sakakura then spat on Hinata. He couldn’t have felt even more disgusted.

“Yeah, she had no talent… so what? All lives are equal!”

“No, they aren’t. Give up. You can’t make diamonds out of scrap metal. Act like a normal high school student, and hang out with other normal students, and enjoy your lives, thinking you’re all great. Got it? I know kids like you. You start acting all special, just because you interact with the Main Course a little.”

 _“A little…? A little?! Komaeda and Nanami mean the world to me, they’re my best friends! Everything we’ve done together is not just “a little”!”_ Hinata screamed instead his head again. Of course, he never said it out loud. He would’ve just dug his own grave deeper.

“Honestly, this is why I hate normal people. You cling to the talent of the Main Course students like crap trailing behind a goldfish.”

“No… that’s wrong!” Hinata managed to say, “There’s more to life than just talent! You don’t have to be talented to mean something to other people, or make people happy, or to give hope. That’s something that anybody can do!”

He grabbed words and inspiration from his friends. They - Komaeda Nagito and Nanami Chiaki - were what pulled him forward, but the Ultimate Boxer didn’t stop pushing him back.

“Well said. You’re right. The talentless should act as befits them. If you have time to envy the talented, use that time to live like a gear in a machine. For people like you, who have no talent, you don’t need to think. If you live life idly, grovelling before your betters, nothing can make you happier.”

He was saying that all the talentless people were dumb. Their only purpose was to be used, like gears in a machine. Their only source of happiness was the talented. In short, he was just saying what Hinata had heard multiple times before. By Komaeda.

He was worthless. They were all worthless.

Hinata was absolutely sick of it.

“AHHHHHH!” With a new found strength and frustration, he got up and started swinging. He actually managed to hit Sakakura’s chin. He landed a hit on the Ultimate Boxer. It may have been small, but it pissed the security head off.

“How about a nice nap in the hospital, kid?!” He threatened.

Hinata Hajime watched the boxer’s fist fly straight towards his face. He braced for the impact, eyes open, ready to face whatever pain he had to for standing up for himself. Suddenly, a bright orange colour was the only colour he could see. He recognized the colour straight away - the colour of Yukizome Chisa’s hair. Komaeda and Nanami’s main course teacher was there to save him. Sakakura stopped his actions mid-punch.

“Yukizome…”

“Hinata, are you okay?” She asked.

He just stood there. Almost every negative emotion you could feel was coursing through his body at that moment. The anger and frustration were clear, but he was also feeling tired, pathetic, and he was feeling pain. Emotionally and physically.

Yukizome offered her handkerchief to wipe the blood off his face. He barely felt it through all his awful emotions, but it was definitely there. Still, the brunette didn’t even make an effort to wipe it off. He just knocked her hand away and stomped off.

━━━━━━━✿━━━━━━━

Hinata found himself secluded in a quiet place. He wasn’t too far from the fountain - in fact, he could hear the quiet gurgle of water from where he stood - but he didn’t want to go there. He didn’t want to face Komaeda or Nanami, or any human being, really. Not with so much on his mind.

Their words hurt. Komaeda’s. Sakakura’s. Even the damn people running the Kamukura Project. All their words rushed into his head at once and it hurt. It hurt so much. He was useless. He was pathetic. He was talentless. No matter how much he tried to convince himself otherwise, no matter how much Nanami told him talent wasn’t important, no matter how much Komaeda said that he had powerful hope. He couldn’t overlook the fact that the whole world thought differently.

He wasn’t well-known. He wasn’t special. Nobody looked up to him. Nobody wanted to be like him. “Hinata Hajime” was just another worthless name of a reserve course student, clinging onto the main course teens like it was their life source.

Hinata didn’t want to be that. He wanted to be more.

He wanted to be… Kamukura Izuru.

“Hinata-kun!” Suddenly, the green-eyed boy heard someone call his name, almost exactly like he did that morning. Except, this time, he wasn’t surprised. School had ended, and Komaeda was looking for him.

“... hey, Komaeda.”

Hinata turned around, the white-haired luckster coming to sight. Who knew someone so innocent-looking would cause Hinata so much pain, but at the same time, so much love?

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you- H-Hinata, you’re bleeding! Are you alright?”

Hinata immediately wiped the blood from the side of his mouth. He then Komaeda a small smile, hoping he wouldn’t realize it’s forcefulness. “Yeah, I’m... fine.”

“Okay, then…” The pale teen seemed to notice that something was off, but he didn’t do anything about it. “Anyways, Nanami-san has a new game for us to play. It came out today. We started the first level and it’s quite fun; come and join us!” Komaeda looked so excited, but Hinata knew what he had to do instead, and he couldn’t wait any longer. His only choice was to turn his friend down.

“No. I’m sorry. I have somewhere to be,” He said, hurting as he watched the smiles of his friend’s fade.

“Oh. Alright, then. Maybe next time,” Komaeda sighed. He was about to leave to head back to the fountain, but Hinata grabbed his arm.

“Before you go, Komaeda, I wanted to ask you something. It’s really important.”

“What is it?”

“If somehow, I was able to become an Ultimate... how would you react?”

“That... if that were possible...” Komaeda’s eyes then seemed to sparkle, “That’d be amazing, Hinata-kun! You would finally have a talent. The hope that would come from that would be unbelievable! And you would finally be out of the reserve course! Maybe you could even get enrolled in my class! Then maybe I wouldn’t be so lonely anymore, haha.”

At that moment, hearing his best friend’s words, he had made his final decision.

He would join the Izuru Kamukura Project. By doing this, he could finally be what Komaeda needed. He could give him company. Happiness.

**Hope.**

“Ah, I’m sorry, it seems that’s just wishful thinking. After all, talentless people can never be talented, no matter how hard they try. It’s a sad reality we’re living in, isn’t it?” Komaeda chuckled.

_“Komaeda… that doesn’t have to be our reality. Someday soon, I’ll come back, I’ll stand next to you and you can finally be proud to be my friend. I can finally say, “Look at me! I can do this amazing thing!” Soon. Very, very soon. But you can’t know that yet. It’ll be a huge surprise, for you.”_

“I... suppose so. Anyways, I have to go.”

“Wait, you’ll come back to the fountain tomorrow at lunch, right, Hinata-kun?” The pale boy asked. “I’ve... been wanting to tell you something.”

“Yeah, of course, Komaeda. I’ll be back.”

… But after agreeing to be in the Kamukura project, there was no turning back.

━━━━━━━✿━━━━━━━

_Dear Hinata Hajime,_

_This letter will never reach you, but I’m writing it anyway. It’s me, Komaeda. It’s been exactly a week since I last saw you. A week ago, today, you promised me you would meet up with me at the school fountain during lunchtime. I had wanted to tell you something rather important, but I suppose someone as pathetic as me doesn’t deserve that chance, huh?_

_I had been planning to confess everything. I was finally, finally going to tell you the truth - my days are numbered, and my brain is slowly falling apart. I have frontotemporal dementia and Stage 3 malignant lymphoma. Of course, someone like me would receive a diagnosis as extreme as that. Two brain diseases at once, with a life expectancy of between a year to half a year. My luck is absolutely terrible… I apologize I never told you sooner._

_On top of that, I had also wanted to tell you of my plan to stop the practical exams. Nobody in my class was prepared for the exams thanks to everything that has happened, and Ms. Yukizome couldn’t do anything to stop them, so I took matters into my own hands. I set up bombs and attempted to put laxatives into the drinks I planned to serve. I knew it was dangerous back then so I wanted to tell you. I am now experiencing repercussions for my actions; I have been put into an indefinite suspension and will not be allowed back at school until the headmaster says so. Not like it matters. I never belonged among the Ultimates anyhow. I never belonged around you, either._

_Hinata-kun, finally, I’ll say it: I love you. I really do. No matter what, you never failed to make me smile, and make me feel special even when I knew full well I never mattered. I felt a special type of bond towards you. I now know it was love. I was going to tell you everything, see how you’d react… but you never came._

_I found the papers. You were expelled. Why? Was it related to your injury that day? What happened? Why didn’t you tell me?_

_Ah, I suppose it doesn’t matter anymore. I doubt we’ll ever meet again. You’ll never be allowed back to Hope’s Peak, and, quite possibly, never will I. I just thank whatever gods that are out there that you never died. I was so scared you would. My luck cycle has never been kind to me, but I’m glad it spared your life. You were taken away from me, but at least you’re alive. I should be happy right now. I really should, but…_

_I had hope for us, Hajime. Hope that, maybe, our relationship wouldn’t go to shreds. I guess someone as worthless as me doesn’t deserve to hope, huh?_

_I guess this is goodbye._

_All my love,_

_Komaeda Nagito._

━━━━━━━✿━━━━━━━

Komaeda hadn’t ever expected to see Hinata again. Especially not almost one year after his suspension.

He never even expected to step back into Hope’s Peak Academy. The fact that both these things happened on the exact same day should’ve seemed like a great act of good luck - a dream come true. Komaeda’s life was finally going back to the way it was before.

But, given the circumstances, it seemed like more of a nightmare.

Komaeda Nagito held a gun pointed to the direction of a man. This man had extremely long black hair and piercing red eyes. He looked almost nothing like the Hinata Hajime, yet it was Hinata Hajime. Komaeda could see it in the way he looked. The facial shape, skin tone, figure, and even the suit was identical.

Not just that; Komaeda could sense it was Hinata. There had always been a strong bond between the two, drawing them closer to each other every day they spent together. The bond was still strong. Komaeda could still feel it. And he had missed the feeling. He had missed it a lot.

This was no doubt his Hinata-kun. The only problem was… how?

“H-Hinata-kun…? What happened to you?” Komaeda muttered, his grip on the gun beginning to loosen. Still, he didn’t let it go or put the gun down because he knew “Hinata” was working for them.

Who was “them”? The Ultimate Despairs. He and Nanami were currently in the hideout of Enoshima Junko and Ikusaba Mukuro, under the Hope’s Peak Academy grounds. He and Nanami had been looking for Tsumiki, who had gone missing prior, and ended up getting wrapped in a much bigger plan.

Of course, he’d gotten there by using his Ultimate Luck. He had no idea the hideout existed beforehand, and he didn’t have to. His luck was that powerful.

But against someone who was even luckier, his own luck didn’t stand a chance.

“Hinata? No… it can’t… who are you? What happened to Hinata-kun?”

The man in front of him refused to answer. For Komaeda, his emotions were everywhere. Love. Hate. Hope. Despair. Happiness. Anger. The white-haired boy felt it all. But the black-haired man seemed to be completely blank and void of emotion.

“Hinata?” Enoshima asked from behind Komaeda.

He wanted to turn. He wanted to turn and shoot her like he had been planning to do from the minute he sensed her despair. But he didn’t. There was no telling what “Hinata” would do if he did.

The despair-filled woman laughed. “Who’s Hinata? I only know Kamukura Izuru~!”

“K-Kamukuru Izuru… who…?” Nanami asked from the sidelines.

Nanami was simply a bystander in all of this, but she was clearly feeling the same thing Komaeda was. Hinata had been a friend to them both, and she, too, could tell this was Hinata. The fact that somehow he was turned into his… person… it was unbelievable.

Komaeda didn’t want to shoot him. He told himself that Hinata was in there somewhere, but at the same time, he had been replaced by someone who was working for the enemy. He had to be stopped.

So, Komaeda attempted to shoot.

It was a terrible attempt. The gun ended up jamming, and the man didn’t seem fazed by it at all. Instead, he found this setback as the perfect time to strike.

In one swift moment, this Kamukura man moved to Komaeda’s side, holding him for a second. With this, the white-haired boy seemed to fall into a state of bliss. It felt like Hinata was there with him. It was Hinata… with an overwhelming amount of hope radiating from him. It made him feel calm and at peace.

As Komaeda was in this dazed state, mesmerized by the thought of Hinata with luck and hope, holding him in his arms, Kamukura found the perfect opportunity to steal his gun and shoot.

In the midst of Komaeda falling to the ground from impact, he came back to reality, and he felt stupid.

This wasn’t Hinata. Not anymore.

One could call this a “better” version of Hinata Hajime. Years ago, Komaeda would’ve probably called him the exact same thing. But the Komaeda now didn’t think this version was any better.

He wanted his Hinata back. The one that would do anything to keep their friendship. The one who would slap him to stop him from being self-deprecating. The one who he would talk with for hours while listening to the sound of rushing water.

His Hinata-kun.

Komaeda began to pass out. He wasn’t going to die from the gunshot, he knew that much. Somehow his luck was going to prevent it. But he was still scared. Not for himself, but for Hinata.

He held his hand out towards the strange man, reaching out. It was as if he was trying to grab Hinata’s existence, pull out the true boy he loved.

“Hinata-kun… please… come back to me…”

And then the world went black.

━━━━━━━✿━━━━━━━

Komaeda awoke, finding himself in a dark room. He managed to get up. There was only a single light coming from a lightbulb above him. Other than that, it felt like an eerie, dark, empty room.

At least, he thought it was empty. He was quickly proven wrong when he witnessed Kamukura approaching, completely silent, his hair blending with the darkness.

“Kamukura Izuru. That’s your name, right?” Komaeda asked. He then chuckled, remembering their encounter earlier. “You have such amazing luck. It was a fool of me to assume you’re anything like Hinata-kun.”

“This “Hinata-kun” you speak of,” Kamukura said, “I assume that’s who I was in my previous life.”

“Previous life...?” Komaeda then sighed, “What did Enoshima do to you? How have you changed so much? I hardly recognized you when I first saw you.”

“Aw, you’re so mean!” The white-haired boy heard an irritating laugh, and then a girl with pink-hair appeared beside Kamukura. Enoshima Junko. “Why do automatically assume I’m the one who did this? You’re so rude!”

“If you didn’t do this then who did? I can’t think of anybody else but the Ultimate Despair herself to make such a powerful hope even stronger. A perfect concoction for great despair.”

“Oh, I WISH I was able to do something like this, but I just don’t have the talent~!” The girl then seemed to change personalities, her voice and expression becoming darker. “The people who have all the talent in the world at their disposal. That’s who did this to your precious Hinata.”

Komaeda froze for a second. “You’re not saying Hope’s Peak Academy did this, are you?”

Enoshima changed personalities again, becoming way happier and childlike. “That’s right! The Hope’s Peak Academy you admired soooo much experimented on your boyfriend and made him soooo much more likeable! Isn’t that great? Hehe!”

“Hope’s Peak would stoop down that low…?” Komaeda muttered. His heart began to sink. “The place where hope is cultivated… started to do human experimentation? Why would they do that to you? Oh, wait.” Suddenly, a memory came back to him. “That’s why you asked me about the possibility of you having a talent… because you were going to get one. By becoming Kamukura Izuru.”

“I don’t just have one talent. I have all the talents known to man,” Kamukura corrected, “Also, I hope you’re aware I have no idea what you’re talking about and, quite frankly, I don’t care. You are boring.”

“Ooo~ sassy!” Enoshima then resulted back to her seemingly normal, annoying personality. Her constant change in character had begun to give Komaeda a headache. “Yeah, so, Hope’s Peak Academy erased all of Kamukura’s memories to make way for all the talents. He has no idea who you are. He’s a completely new person now! Oh, and, your Hinata? Sorry to break it to you, but he’s dead!”

“W-What?” Suddenly, Komaeda felt pain. It was a type of pain he had never felt before. He had felt a similar pain when he saw his dog die, and an even more similar pain when his parents did. But he never felt something as horrible as this.

This was the pain of losing someone he truly loved more than anything.

“No… he’s right… t-there...” Komaeda turned to Kamukura. “Hinata!”

“I am not Hinata,” Kamukura stated plainly.

“Yes, you are! You’re Hinata Hajime!” The white-haired boy ran up to him, grabbing onto Kamukura’s shoulders. “Hinata-kun, listen to me, I know you’re in there! You look like him, you ARE him! You can’t… be gone… not again, please…”

He started crying. Tears fell out of his eyes. He felt absolutely helpless, at the mercy of two people and his own thoughts.

_“So, what about me? I don’t plan to leave you, but… if I did die, or disappeared, or just… changed myself, would you care?”_

_“I’d miss you, Hinata-kun. I know I tease you about being a reserve course student a lot but that doesn’t mean I don’t care about you.”_

“You told me you wouldn’t leave me, Hinata…!” Komaeda yelled, staring into a deep red, emotionless abyss.

_“Wait, you’ll come back to the fountain tomorrow at lunch, right, Hinata-kun?”_

_“Yeah, of course, Komaeda. I’ll be back.”_

“You told me you’d come back!” He screamed at Kamukura. The man didn’t say a word. “I had hoped so hard that you would! I hoped… that you would at least live…! This is all my fault… all of my stupid luck’s fault…” Komaeda couldn’t control himself any longer. Tears streamed down his face like a river as he began to bang on Kamukura’s chest. “Come back to me Hinata-kun! Please! I- AH!”

Pain. It coursed through Komaeda’s lower back as he hit the ground, thrown across the room by a man with black hair and red eyes. The white-haired boy could feel his piercing stare from where he lay.

“You are so painfully boring. You blame your own talent for something that was beyond your control, and cry about it like a child because you couldn’t get what you wanted. How annoying,” Kamukura said, mercilessly tearing away at Komaeda’s conflicted emotions with his words.

“Aha… hahaha… HAHAHAHAHAHA!” He started to laugh, wrapping his arms around himself, “You don’t need to tell me that, Kamukura-kun! I’ve always known that I’m a useless, irritating, ordinary individual. But Hinata-kun… he always lied to make me feel special. He lied and said I mattered. I hardly believed him, but he was always so kind. I’m an idiot for thinking I ever deserved to be in his presence. So, you can beat me all you want! Kill me, even. I don’t care. I deserve it. Usually, I’d think something like that would bring hope but… my death would never bring hope. Ever.”

“Woah, you’re such a weirdo!” Enoshima laughed. He could see her figure leaning over him through his blurry vision. “You’re seriously still thinking of hope, even at a time like this. Hope doesn’t matter! Despair is the only thing that can really make you happy, now that you have nothing left. Join me, Komaeda-kun! Let’s make a world of despair together!”

Komaeda didn’t answer. He just stared up at her. She winked back at him.

“Think about it, ‘kay? Now, Kamukura-kun! Let’s go convince more suckers to fall into our glorious kingdom of death and misery!”

Komaeda heard a door shut. He didn’t even notice Enoshima leave his line of vision. He just continued laying there.

 _“Hinata-kun… is gone… everyone I’ve ever loved and cared for… is gone or going to be gone… hah… my luck is terrible…”_ Komaeda thought.

“Nothing matters anymore. Nothing but hope. Hope… I can bring hope… if I let the world fall into despair and then kill Enoshima Junko! That’ll make me the Ultimate Hope, now that the real Ultimate Hope has fallen to despair. What a fantastic plan! Ahahaha… haha... ”

_“I hate despair.”_

_“I hate Enoshima Junko.”_

_“I hate my luck.”_

_“I hate myself.”_

**_“I hate hope.”_ **

Later, Komaeda had exited the room with a huge smile on his face. His mind had been completely twisted. He was ready to end the world in front of him, and not even give a damn.

Nagito Komaeda, now a Remnant Despair, destined to become nothing but a worthless servant. His ultimate downfall was his hope. His hope in his best friend, Hinata-kun.

The hope in the love of his life.

**...**

**..**

**.**

Komaeda Nagito caused pain.

Komaeda Nagito caused heartbreak.

Komaeda Nagito caused death.

Komaeda Nagito forgot.

Komaeda Nagito remembered.

Komaeda Nagito died.

This was the course of events that took place before this very moment.

_“Hey… can you hear me?”_

The Ultimate Lucky Student heard a voice beyond the darkness he was held captive in. Then, he saw a light. It seemed to be getting brighter by the second. With no hesitation, he allowed the light to envelop him whole, and then he saw him.

Hinata Hajime.

“Komaeda…?” The brunette called, “Komaeda! Wake up!”

“Ahh… Kamukura Izuru?” He replied. Then he smiled. “No… you’re Hinata-kun… right?”

Hinata nodded, a relieved look on his face. “Komaeda!”

Suddenly, Komaeda felt warm arms embrace him, forcing him to sit up in the small pod he had been laying in.

“Komaeda, oh my god, you’re alive… I’m so, so sorry!” Hinata cried.

The pale boy returned the hug with a small grin. “What are you sorry for?”

“Everything. I remember everything Ko, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry for keeping secrets, for leaving you, for forgetting you, for abandoning you… everything. It’s my fault you killed yourself back in the killing game. It’s all my damn fault and I’m sorry!”

Komaeda shook his head, letting go of Hinata. “It was never your fault. It was mine. I killed myself because, well, I just wanted to matter. I wanted to be important. To be... the Ultimate Hope. Actually, that’s why I always told people to kill me… I wanted to bring hope and happiness in the only way I knew how. I figured that my death would bring everyone the joy they deserved. My existence has always been useless, and it became even more so when I realized I was a Remnant of Despair.”

“Komaeda, no… you have no idea how distraught I was when I saw what happened to you. I had always felt a bond between us. I knew our friendship had been there, I just couldn’t remember it. When you died, I felt like a piece of me had been ripped away.”

“... really?”

“Really.”

“Well, I apologize. I never expected to bring such pain. I just wanted you to be happy,” Komaeda shook his head, “But I realize now that… I was wrong. I do have some sort of hope inside of me. It’s not as strong as yours but-”

“Hey, Komaeda,” Hinata smiled, interrupting him, “Do you still have hope for us? Hope that we’ll be okay after everything we’ve been through?”

Komaeda nodded. “Of course.”

“That’s enough proof that your hope is way stronger than you could ever think. Be confident in yourself from now on. Unless you want me to slap you again?”

The white-haired boy chuckled. “No thanks, Hinata-kun. I’ll… try to be more confident, I promise.”

Hinata seemed to beam with absolute happiness. “Good. Oh, by the way, before we go join the others… I love you back."

“H-Huh?” This statement caught Komaeda off guard.

“I love you. Always have, always will. And I know you feel the same - I remember all those times you confessed your love to me, in the killing game, and out. I just didn’t understand it then. Now, I do, and I’m finally admitting it. I love you, Nagito.”

Komaeda blushed upon hearing his first name. He could definitely get used to that. “... yeah, I love you too… Hajime.”

Then, Hinata leaned in, and so did Komaeda.

Komaeda Nagito didn’t know exactly how he found himself in this situation. He still had no idea how he was even alive, but he did know one thing: he was happy.

Komaeda found true happiness.

Hinata found true happiness.

They two of them could finally be happy… together. And that’s all that mattered.

━━━━━━━✿━━━━━━━

_When we are first brought into this world, we really have to idea what lies ahead of us._

_What are we going to go through? What pain? What joy? What heartbreak? What love?_

_Some of us are blessed with more luck than others, while some are cursed to go through the worst luck imaginable. I was one of the unfortunate few who were born with both._

_But there’s one thing that everyone ends up receiving in their life. Happiness. No matter what form it comes in, we all bask in the feeling of pure joy at least once in our life._

_Thanks to Hajime, I get to feel the best kind of happiness every single day of my life._

_Things have been better since we woke up from the killing game. People have actually forgiven me for my unforgivable deeds, and have started to try to befriend and understand me. It’s all thanks to Hajime for convincing them that I was a good person._

_Thank you, Hinata Hajime, for being there with me through thick and thin._

_I will always have hope for a bright future, with the two of us in the middle._

_I love you, Hajime._

_I will always love you._

-

“And I will always love you too, Nagito.”


End file.
